Machine for feeding pellets into containers



1'. E. GROVES. L MACHINE FOR FEEDING PELLETS INTO CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8| 1920. 1 111,83623, Patented July 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ATM/

J. E. GROVES. MACHINE FOR FEEDING PELLETS INTO CONTAINERS.

I APPLICATION FlLED MAY 8,1920. 1,383,623. Patented July 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVNTUY:

wily/WM l. E. GROVES. MACHINE FOR FEEDING PELLETS INTO CONTAINERS. I

APPLICATION FILED MAY'a, 1920.

TI EL orties.

JAMES E. Gnovns, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. n v

MACHINE FOR FEEDIN Gr PELLETS INTO CONTAINERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'i Patented July, 1921,.

Application led May 8, 1920. Serial No. 379,748.

T0 all Lo/0m t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JAMES E. GRovEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Feeding Pellets into Containers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

he invention relates to a new and useful improvement in machines forffeeding and delivering a predetermined number of pellets or other small articles into containers therefor. One object of the invention is to deliver one by one the pellets from a suitable supply into a container which is placed beneath the feed apparatus until a predetermined number of the pellets. are delivered into the container. Another Object 0f the invention is to provide automatic means whereby when one container has received its proper quota of pellets it will be removed and another container will be brought into position to receive a corresponding quota of pellets. Another object Vof the invention is to provide means whereby when a tray containing a quantity of containers to be filled, is placed in position for certain of the containers' to be in receptive position, the machine will be automatically started. Janother object of the invention is to provide means whereby when the first container or tbe first row of containers is filled the tray will be automatically moved to carry the filled containers out of receptive position and to bring another set of lcontainers into receptive position.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby when the tray has been moved out farenough so that the last row of containers is filled, the machine will be automatically stopped. Anotherobject isto provide a telltale device to indicate whether the pellets are being fed from the hopper to the tube. It is to be understood,'however, that the invention is broadly applicable to a machine in which either one or more containers are filled at the same time.

The invention will. be fully understood from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearlyy defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

The machine shown inthe drawings as embodying the invention is equipped with means for filling sixteen bottlesat the same l time,.and for rapid work it is intended to have the invention embodied in machines which are capable offlling a plurality of containers simultaneously.

For convenience 0f cles with which the bottles are beingiilled willbe referred to as pellets. V-

In the drawings,

vation of a machine embodying the invention.- 4

Fig. 2 is a horizontal ,sectiononline 2 2 0f F ig. 1. f

Fig. 3 is aside elevationviewed from the right of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectionalview of One of the delivery tubes with a tell-tale device for indicating when ing, if for any reason the feed is stop ped.V

6 is a detailV plan viewA of the feed actuating cam.

Fig. 7 is a view showing a modified formV of feed actuatingcam.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 `represents a hopper having oppositely flaring sides which Vtaper toward the bottom, the bottom edges of the two sides 2 2 being parallel with each other and forming a long narrowbottom Swith which are connected a series oftubes 4 having a flaring upper portion 5 of the tube` intov the more contracted lower portion t-of the tube. The contracted portion-t ofthetubeshould be of just description. the arti-` F igurevl is a `front ele--v the pellets are not feed-` is a detail plan view of the. feed 5 so that the pellets, with which thehopper is filled will read-L ily run down through the ila-ring mouthvv can pass down in single series only and not wedge each other. The hopper lis supported on suitable frame which rise from a supporting base 8. The tubes 4 are all open at the bottom, the lower ends being at some distance above the base 8. A carriage 9 is provided to hold the supply of bottles and which Ican be moved into position beneath the feed tubes. This carriage as shown consists of a rectangular receptacle or body 9, which is provided on its underside with wheels 10, so that the car.

Y the loweri'nost, as

- tube f1; These riage can be rolled into and out of position,

and on the base 8 there are placed tracks 11 formed with guide grooves in which the wheels -10 move so as carriage inits travel.

lThe machine shown in the drawings loeing intended to fill sixteen bottles at a time, the carriage 9 is of suficient size to just hold a tray 58 wide enough to contain sixteen of the bottles'in a single row, as shown in Fig. 1, andthe carriage and tray may be made long" enough to 'contain as many rows of sixteetn bottles each `as desired. As shown in the drawings the machine is made to contain eighteen -r'ows Vof bottles as shown in the side elevation view, Fig. 3.

As' already stated the pellets will roll down from the hopper into the several tubes, one on top off another. Means are provided whereby one pellet at a time can pass out of the tube into bottle while the series of pelletsabove the lowermost is positively held back. The means Vprovided for doing this is avibratory knife having two blades which are `alternately brought into position to form a cut-off. rlhey are so positioned with relation to each other that when one is open the other is closed. When one blade is in closed position it operates to hold back the entire column of pellets, and then when that withdraws from operative position to allow the lowermostpellet. to pass out of the tube, the

to accurately guide the .other knife comes into operative position to hold back the remainder of the column above plainly shown in Fig. a. 1n the preferred embodiment of the invention this-cut-off device consists of a lever 13 which is pivoted intermediate its ends, as will be hereinafter described, so that it can vibrate, and is forked at one end forming the two branches 111--15 which straddle the two branches are offset from each other and straddle the tube e. in such manner that the branch 14 is elevated some distance higher than the branch 15. Said branches 1%-15 are spread apart from each other somewhat greater than the diameter of the tube 4, so that the branches of the fork permit horizontal vibratory movement with relation to the tube. The branch 1li carries a laterally extending horizontal blade 16 which engages Y with and plays back and forth in a slot 17 in the periphery of the tube 4, and the branch 15 is provided with a laterally extending horizontal blade 18 which plays back and forth in a slot 19 in the pe.- riphery of the tube 11. See Fig. L1. rFliese two blades are so arranged that when the lowermost blade 18 is projected into the tube the upper blade 16 will be outside of the hollow portion of the tube, and the Column of ellets 6 will be supported by the lowermost blade 18. When the lower-most blade 18 is retracted, the upper blade 16 will move in between the lowemost pellet and the next pellet above, allowing the lowermost pellet to drop out of the tube while the remainder of the column of pellets is supported by the blade 16 which operates as a cut-off. It will be obvious that by vibrating the `lever 13 the two blades 16-18 will Vbe alternately moved in and out allowing a single pellet at a time to drop out throughV the tube.

rlhe mechanism for operating the lever 13 is as follows z-Each one ofthe levers 13 is pivoted at 20 to a cross bar 21 which forms a xed portion of the frame of the machine. Said levers 13 are all connected together by a tie bar 22 so as to move in unison. Freferably the connections between the levers 13 and the tie bars are pivoted connections as shown at 23.

Mounted 'in the frame at some distance bach of the rear ends of the levers 13 isa rotary shaft 2e on which are mounted a series of rotary cams 25, preferably one cam for each of the levers 13. These cams are in the formV of a wheel with cam teeth 26 projecting` laterally from the periphery thereof. These cams are so mounted with relation to the levers that during the rotation of each cam the teeth 26 will successively engage one edge of the lever which is intended to be actuated by that particular cam. As the lever rides up onto the high part of the cam tooth it will throw the lever the eXtreme length of its stroke in one direction. 'A spring 27 is connected at one end with one end of the tie bar 22 and is fastened at its other end to the frame. As soon as the high part of the cam tooth has moved out of engagement with the lever, the spring 27 which has been put under tension while the lever was riding up on the high part of the cam will pull the lever back into the position shown in Fig. 2 into the notch between two of the cam teeth ready to be again actuated by the next cam tooth. rlhe movement of the lever by the cam causes the lever to move in a directionr to move ene of the blades 1(518 into its cut-off position Vand move the other one out of its cut-off position, and the movement in the reverse direction by the spring 27 causes the reverse movement of the cut-of:1V blades. As shown in the drawings, the cam actuates the opening movement of the lowermost blade 18. It isobvious, however, that the machine may be adjusted so that the spring will control the opening of the lowermost blade and the cam control the opening of the upper blade. So far as the invention is concerned it is immaterial Vwhich. order is followed. A

For convenience it Vis preferred that they cams shall each have as many cam teeth as the number of pellets desired to have put into a single bottle, so that-the full complement will be put into the bottle at a single rotation of the cam and shaft, and that' the feed of the boX or carriage to bring another row ve0 t of bottles into alinement with the tubes shall take place at the end of each vrotation of the shaft. This, however, is not essential.

The shaft 24 has a clutch connection with a driving pulley 30 which is loosely mounted on said shaft. The clutch mechanism shown is a friction clutch of well-known form, comprising two friction members 31-31 which have pivoted connection with a clutch actuating spool 32 mounted on the shaft 24 in such'manner as to be axially slidable on` said shaft but keyed thereto so as to rotate therewith. This form of connection is so well-known that it isnot necessary to illustrate it specifically in the drawings.

The clutch actuating spool 32 is in they form of a pulley with a groove 33 in its periphery with which is engaged one end of a two-part lever. Said two-part lever comprises a member 34 fulcrumed at 35, its rear end being pivoted at 36 to another member 37 whose rear end has a cam face 38 which is adapted to be engaged by the side'of the carriage 9 when the carriage is moved back into its rearmost position. When the carriage is thus moved back into its rearmost position where it strikes the rear wall 39 of the frame, it engages said cam face 38 and rocks the leverl arm- 37 on its. pivot 40, throwing out the rear end of said arm 37 and turning in the forward end, thereby turning in the rear end of the lever arm 34 and pushing outwardly the forward end of the arm 34. This causes the friction clutch to engage with the pulley 30 and start rotation ofthe shaft 24 and cams 25, and therefore the vibration of the levers 13 so that the pellets can begin to feed into the first row of bottles beneath the ubes. v Means are provided whereby the carriage will be intermittently moved forward 4one step after each row of bottles is filled. This mechanism will be hereinafter described. When the carriage is moved forward far enough for the last row of bottles to be filled, it is then moved farther forward and in its farther forward movement it disengages the clutch to stop the rotation of the shaft 24. This mechanism' will now be de scribed. y l

A lever 41 is fulcrumed intermediate its ends at 42 to a fixed part of the frame, and has one end which 33 in the clutch spool, and its forward end has a projection 421 which extends alongside of the carriage 9. Projecting from the side of the carriage near its` rear end is a lug 43 which is located down and out of the way of the rear end of the lever arm 37 so as notk to interfere therewith. When the carriage is moved forward a sufficient distance after the last row of bottles in the carriage has been filled. the said lug 43 will engage with the projection 421 on the lever is adapted at kmake enough more than a single engages lwith the groove 4l and turn said lever 41 on its fulcrum so as to cause the portion ofthe said lever which engages vwith the groove in the clutch member 32 to disengage' the clutch and thus stop the rotation of the shaft 24. e

he means for causing the intermittent forward feed of the carriage is as follows he'upper edge of one side of thecarriage 9 is formedwith ratchet teeth 44. A downwardly hanging member 45 which acts asa pawl is 'pivoted at its upper end at 46 to' a portion of the frame, and at its lower end it is provided with a tooth 47 whichis adapted to engage with the blunt end of the ratchet notches 44 in the upper edge of thecarriage.

Mounted on ajstud shaft 48 is a disk 49 providedwith a cam projection 50 project? ing outwardly from its periphery, and which each rotation of the said diskV 49 to engage with the pawl lever 45`and thereby swing the said pawl lever 45 to the left as viewed in Fig. 3`so' as to feed the carriage forwardythe distance of a single notch. The said cam disk 49 is driven by gear connection with the shaft 24 as. fol-` lows Mounted `on the which meshes with stud shaft 53; the gear 54 mounted ontheshaft 48.

two gears 5l and 54 havean equal number i of teeth, then the cam 49 will rotate once for each rotation of the shaft 24, so that atv each rotation of -theshaft24 the carriage will be moved forward one step7 that isthe distance. equal to the spacey between the notchesl 44. If it is desired to feed intothe bottle a largerfnumber of pelletsthan the wheels 25,

number of cam teeth on the cam the shaft 24 and the camV wheels .25 should otation to make up for the increased number of pellets to be fed before the carriage moves forward, and 'in order to control the forward feed of the carriage in such case so 'that it will ynot move until the requisite amount of pellets have been fed into .the bottle, lthegear 54 maybe replaced by another `gear having a greater number of teeth than' the gear 51, so as to retard the rotation of the cam 49 ac-4 cording' tothe increase in the number of pellets.l .j v1

After the lever 45. khas completed its forward stroke, that is tothe left as viewed in Fig. 3, to feed the carriage forward, said pawl lever is swung back again into -position to engage the next tooth or notch 44 in the side of the carriage. For this purpose a spring 55 is provided. one end ofwhich is connected with the pawl lever 45 and the` other end of which is connected with a. fixed portion of the fra-me. ASaid spring is` put under tension by the positive forward move-vv ment of the pawl under actuation of the cam order to permit the pawl lever 45. to swing back over the top of the tooth which forms the notch 44, the said lever is made as a jointed lever, the two members of which are pivoted together at 56 so -as to allow the said pawl lever to flex at that point in the backward swing, that is the lower portion of the lever will Vbend forward or to the left as shownin Fig. 3. lt is prevented from bending backward beyond'the straight line shown. in Fig. 3 by means of Va stop 57 which is attached to the upper member of the two-part lever Vand eX- tends down behind the lower member of the lever.

Preparatory to operation ofthe machine, the bottles 12 are placed in a rectangular tray 58 which is adapted to litsnugly within projection 50. In

the carriage 9, and which is of sufficient to withdraw the blade 18 width in the illustration ings toreceive a row of'siXteen bottles, and of suiicient length to Vreceive eighteen rows'. The tray is then placed in the carriage while the carriage is in a forward position, out from under the feed tubes. The carriage is then rolled on its tracks beneath the hopper into theposition shown in Figs. 2 and 3and when it reaches its most rearward position the rear right-hand corner as viewed in'Fig. 2 engages with thevcam face 38 on the lever 37, turning said Vlever 37 on its fulcrum so as to throw the clutch into operative engagement with the driving pulley 3Q, thus starting the machine. Thecam disks 25 will rotate in the manner already described, vibrating the feed levers 13 and the cut-off blades 16-18. Before starting the the end ofthe last operation, the feed lever will be left in a positionwhere the blade 1S Vis in the position shown in Fig. 4, supporting the bottom of the column of pellets, and the blade 16 will Vbe retracted so that the very .first movement of the machine will be and at the same time throw in the blade 16, thus allowing the lowermostl pellet to drop out into Vthe bottle and to shut off the column of pellets above it. As soon as the cam s far enough for the cam projection'O to en; gage the pawl lever 45, the carriage will'be given .its forward movementthe length of one notch in the carriage, so as to bring the neXt row of bottles into position. As previously stated this forward movement might take place, and preferably does, at'the end of a single rotation of the shaft 24, unless the parts are adjusted in such proportion and in such manner as to require more than a single rotation ofthe shaft 24 to supply thepredetermined number of pellets to the bottle; l

. When the second row of bottles receives its predetermined number there will be another forward movement of the carriage and soon until the carriage is moved forward its full` together, va single cam acting on one of shownin the ldrawmachine, or at haft 4S'has rotated distance to permit the last series of bottles to be filled. it the next movement the lug 43 on the rearv right-hand corner of the car.-V riage will engage the cam projection 421 on thelever 41 and disengage the .clutch so as to stop the machine and permit the carriage` to be withdrawn far enough to remove the4 tray and te replace it with a fresh supply of bottles.

While- 1 have shown and Vdescribedthe machine. as provided with one of the cams 25 for each one of the levers 13, it is obvious thatinasmuch as the several levers are tild t e levers would actuate all of the levers in unison, but l prefer to have a cam for each lever, thereby insuring a more steady action.Y V

lows: A. finger having a weight 7 6 at one end is pivoted in a slot 77 in the wall, of the tube in such manner that when Vthe finger extends horizontally as shown in'dotted lines in Fig. 4, the finger will extend transversely of the tube. lt is pivoted at one side of thev center of gravity so that Vwhen itis free to swing` on its pivot the weight of theV finger is overcome by the weight of the weighted end 76 so that it retains the finger in the horizontal position as shown bythe dotted lines in Fig. 4.l rllhis will be its vposition when there 'are no pellets feeding. lt swings so easily, however, column of pellets will turn the linger down into the full line position shown in 4, and retain it in that position as long. as the pellets are feeding. The'inner wall ofthe tube is formed with a recess finger 7 5 in its downwardly extending position so ythat it will not interfere with the clear passage through the tube. can easily tell from the position of the ball weight v76 whether the finger is in the vertical position or Vwhether it is in the transverse position, and therefore he can tell whether the pellets are feeding.

1. A machine for feeding articles into a. container, comprising a reservoir, a feed tube leading from the reservoir, saidr feed tube being formed with two its periphery on opposite sides thereof, one located at some distance above the other, a pivoted lever having arms each carrying a blade, said blades being respectively adapted to receive the The 'observer transverse slots in.

l sively bring each to engage with said slots, and a' rotary cam 'having a series of cam projections thereon `wh1ch successively engage said lever to vibrate the lleverand vthe said blades to move in and out withinl said slots transversely of the passage through the tube in such manner that when one of the blades moves transversely of the passage, the other blade is moved out of the passage.

A machine for feeding articles into a container, having a feed' tube, a carriage which is movable beneath the lower end of said tube, a plurality of containers varranged within said carriage and so located that when the carriage is moved into `position one of the said containers -will be in alinement with the outlet end of said tube, a rotary cam andfmeans actuatedthereby for successively releasing the articles fromisaid tube, a rotary shaft on which said cam is mounted, driving mechanism, clutch mechanism connected with saidA driving mechanism and said shaft, means actuated by the movement of the carriage into a certain position beneath the feed tubes to throw the clutch into operative position to start the rotation of the cam shaft, means controlled by the mechanism which actuates the releasing of said articles from the tube to actuate the movement of the carriageafter a predetermined number of articles have been released from the tube, and means actuated by the withdrawal of the carriage to a predetermined point to disengage the clutch.

A3. A machine for, feeding articles into a container, having a feed tube, means for supporting a column of articles in said tube, means for releasing said articles one by one from said tube, a carriage which is movable beneath the lower end of said tube, a plurality of containers within said carriage, means for automatically moving said carriage in a step-by-step movement to succescontainer into alinement with said tube, and means controlled by the mechanism which actuates the releasingv of the articles from the tube to actuate. the

movement of said carriage after the releasing mechanism has been actuated to release a predetermined number of articles into the container.

4. A machine for feeding articles into a container havin a feed tube formed with two transverse sits in its periphery, one lo cated at some distance 4above the other, two vibratory blades which respectively engage with said slots, and means for vibrating said blades to move them in and out transversely of the passage through the tube in such manner that when one of the blades moves transversely of the passage the other blade is moved out of the passage, a carriage which is movable in and out beneath the lower end of said tube, a plurality of containers within said carriage, means for autostep movement to :brate the'lever and the -cated at some distance above the other, two

vibratory blades which respectively engage with said slots, means for vibrating said blades to move them 0f the passage through the tube inl such manner kthat when one of the blades moves transversely ofthe passage the other blade ismoved out of the "passage, a carriage Which is movable in. and out beneath the tainers' within said carriage, means rorautomatioally moving said carriage in a step-.bysucoessively bring each container into alinement with said tube, means controlled by the mechanism which .actuates thevibration of-said blades to actuate the movement-of said carriage .after a predetermined number ofr vibrations of said blades, and means actuated by the? withdrawal of the carriage to a point beyond a predetermined point to stop the vibration ofthe blades.

6. A.machine for feeding articles into a receptacle comprising a" hopper having` a bottom provided withza row of downwardly 'extending ,outlet tubes, each` of said tubes being formed-with twotransverse slots in the periphery, one of which is at some distance below the other, two vibratory vblades for each of said tubes which are respecf tively adapted to move transversely in and out within said slots in such manner that when one blade moves in to close the passage the other blade moves out from the passage, av pivoted lever for each pair of blades lin which said blades aremounted, a rotary cam having a series of' cam projections ythereon which successivelyengage said lever tovisaid blades to successively open and close the passage through the tube, a carriage which is movable in and out beneath the lower ends of said tubes, and a plurality of containers within said carriage, there being as many containers in each row as there are feed tubes and so located that when the carriage is moved into position one row of the said be in alinement with the outlet ends of said tubes.

7. A machine for feeding articles into a receptacle comprising a hopper havingl a bottom provided with a row of downwardly extending outlettubes, each of said tubes being formed with two transverse slots in in and out transverselyy 4lower end of said tube, a plurality of conv iio containers will Y which said blades the periphery, one of which is at some distance below the other, two vibratory blades .for each of said tubes which are respectively adapted to move transversely in and out within said `slots in such manner that when one blade moves in to close the passage the other blade :moves out from the passage, a pivoted lever for each pair of blades in are mounted, a rotary cam having a series of cam projections thereon which successively engage said lever to vibrate the lever and the said blades to successively open and close the passage through the tube, a carriage which is movable in and outbeneaththe lower ends ofsaidtub'es, a plurality of containers within said carriage, there being as many containers in each row as there are feed tubes and so located that when the carriage is moved into position one row of the said containers will be in alinement with the outlet ends of said tubes, means for automatically moving said carriage in astep-by-step movement to.successively bring each Vrow of containers'intoalinement with said feed tubes, Vand means controlled by the mechanism whichactuates the vibration of said blades to actuate the movement of the said carriage after a prede'- termined number of vibrations of the said blades.

8. A machine' for feeding articles .into a receptacle comprising a hopper having a bottom provided with a row of downwardly extending outlet tubes, leach of said tubes being formed with two transverse slots in the periphery, one of which is aty some distance below the other, two vibratory blades Vfor each fof saidtubes which are respectively adapted to move transversely in and out within said slots in such manner that when one blade moves in to close .the passage :the

vother blade moves out from'the passagena pivoted lever for eachV pair of blades in which said blades are mounted, a rotary Vcam having a series of cam projections thereon which successively engage saidlever to vibrate the lever and the said blades to successively open and close the passage through the tube, a carriage whichl is movable in. and out beneath the lower ends of said tubes, a

mechanism and said rotation of the .cam

means for automatically movingsaid carriage in a step-by-step movement to vsuccessively bring each rowV of containers into alinement with said feed tubes, means ,controlled by the mechanism which actuates the vibration of said blades to actuate the movement of the said carriage after, a predetermined number of vibrationsV of the said blades, a rotary shafton which said cams are mounted, driving mechanism, clutch mechanism connected with said driving shaft, means actuated by the moving of the carriage 'into Va certain position beneath the feed tubes to throw the clutch into operative position to startfthe shaft, and 'means actuated by the withdrawal of the carriage to a predetermined point to disengage ftheY clutch. n Y

9. A machine for feeding articles "into a container, .having a .feed tube, meansV ifor supporting avcolumn of articles in saiditube, means for releasing said articles one byzone from said tube, a carriage which ismovable beneath the lowerendof said tube,.apluralf ity of containers .within said carriage, means for automatically moving said carriage in a step-by-step movement to successively bring each container into alinement' with said;

tube, means actuated by .the positioningof the carriage in a .certain position `:to start the operation of the mechanism .whichactuates the feed, means controlled by the mechanism which actuates Athe releasing of ithe articles from the tube to actuate the 1movement of said carriagefafter apredeterminedV number yof articles have been released into the container, and. means actuated bythe carriage aftera predetermined stepfbysstep;

movement to stop the driving mechanism of the carriage and of the releasingV mech anism. Y In testimony whereof I aiiiX'my'signature. JAME S E. GROVES-` 

